The use of home entertainment networks is growing. In home entertainment networks, audio-video products, PCs, and other electronic appliances can be connected to, e.g., a central server to communicate each other. A powerline network, in which communication between the various components is afforded through the wires of the ac power grid of the house, frequently is regarded as a backbone of home network system.
An important issue for powerline networks is the distance a powerline network signal reaches. Specifically, it is desired that a network signal have relatively long range especially in the case of a large home. As understood herein, however, many powerline networks afford relatively short distance communication, which is not necessarily unacceptable because a network server and a TV monitor are often placed nearby each other and share the same power outlet, so that, by using a powerline network, no conventional audio/video cables are required to connect local devices together. Nevertheless, when a controlled device such as a TV monitor is placed on the opposite side of a large home from a server, relatively large transmission power at the server is required to push the audio-video signal through the power lines of the house.
As further understood herein, however, using the regulatory maximum permissible transmission power to ensure adequate reception at relatively distant network components wastes energy when the receiving device is located only a few feet away from the transmitting device. Furthermore, excessively large transmission power can cause unwanted distortion in the signal. Moreover, excessive transmission power completely occupies time or frequency access slots in the powerline network so that no other remote device can simultaneously use the slots.
Currently, a powerline network may employ OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex), in which hundreds of sub-carriers between 1 and 30 MHz are modulated and transmitted to the receiver. The type of specific modulation used in the network can depend on the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of one or more sub-carriers, with the present invention critically recognizing that SNR depends on powerline layout and transmission condition and can vary when, e.g., other devices within the powerline network are energized or deenergized. When SNR is good, QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) can be used, but for lower SNR a more robust modulation, for example, QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation may be selected. However, varying modulation technique does not address the above-noted problems in attaining the optimum amplitude of transmitted power.
With the above critical recognitions in mind, the invention herein is provided.